This content was published on February 3, 2018 3:05 PMFeb 3, 2018 - 15:05

AMMAN (Reuters) - Warplanes have hit a convoy of civilians fleeing along a major Syrian highway, rescuers and a witness said on Saturday.

It took place in an area where Syrian and Iranian-backed troops were pushing, with air cover, towards a rebel-held town in northwestern Idlib province, they said.

Syrian soldiers and Iranian-backed militiamen were now around twelve kilometres from Saraqeb, advancing towards the Damascus-Aleppo highway under cover of heavy Russian air strikes, two opposition sources said.

Rescuers said at least seven civilians were pulled out of the wreckage of cars after the air strikes on Friday.

"We believe two Russian planes struck the convoy of civilians on the highway and left at least seven killed and twelve injured, mostly elderly and children," said Ammar al Adnan, a civil defence worker from Saraqeb.

Activists' videos on social media showed rescuers extinguishing fires on the route, used by thousands of villagers fleeing areas south of Aleppo now overrun by the Syrian army and its allies.